Yonge-Eglinton Centre 1967 (Site Plan Report)

This document was dug out of the Urban Affairs Library and is thought to be the background briefing notes by the city planning department at the time.
The original text has been re-typed from the original and text referring to the open space has been bolded.

Yonge-Eglinton Centre, 1967

The Yonge-Eglinton Centre  (Site Plan Report)

Developed by:  North Toronto Development Company

Architects:  Bregman & Hamann, Architects & Engineers, Toronto

Name: The Yonge-Eglinton Centre

Site: Full block bounded by Yonge Street, Eglinton Avenue, Duplex Avenue and

Orchard View Blvd.  Project will cover entire block except for office

building at Duplex-Eglinton corner.  Complex will be on 4.85 acre site

– all but 15,000 of 225,000 sq. ft.  in this block.

Land: Owners have bought and control 89 per cent of the site.  T.T.C. will require

right-of-way under southeast corner of site and owners will purchase

110-yard long Starrett Avenue from City.  Starrett Avenue serving rear

of properties bought by owners is remaining 11 per cent of site.

Principals: North Toronto Development Company, 3500 Dufferin St., Toronto, 241-2231

(Sandy Hofstadler and Simon Minz).  Company has won two Urban Develop-

ment Institute awards for their buildings in recent years.

Architects and engineers are Bregman & Hamann, 130 Bloor St. W.  925-5141.

Land was assembled by Cogan Realty, 491 Lawrence Ave. W.  787-1781.

Solicitors are Borden, Elliot, Kelley & Palmer, 250 University Ave.  366-1151.

Media contact Ray Silver Public Relations, Box 182, Toronto 16.  293-2259.

Cost: Estimated cost of land and buildings to completion is $53 million.

Location: At Metropolitan Toronto’s geographic centre and key subway location;

cited by Toronto Planning Board as “one of the best locations in Metro-

politan Toronto for professional and business consultants as well as

head offices”.  (Southeast corner of Sub Area 4, Eglinton Planning District).

Planning: Eglinton Appraisal, prepared by Toronto Planning Board two years ago

(Supplementary Report  July 1965) recommended “High density development

should be concentrated around the subway station.  Offices should be en-

couraged on the Yonge-Eglinton corner and extending along the north side

of Eglinton to the park, while large apartments should take up the rest

of the area between Yonge and Eglinton Park as far north as Roselawn.”

Redevelopment: With some 30 individual properties involved in this one block, planners

had expected redevelopment over several years in a series of independent

projects.  The Yonge-Eglinton Centre, a single development by one owner,

will provide one unified complex of office towers, apartment structures,

entertainment and shopping concourse, domed court and public areas in an

integrated architectural design.  The project will thus meet Eglinton

Appraisal objectives more comprehensively than could have been anticipated. ….2

Yonge-Eglinton Centre, 1967 – 2 -

Buildings: 30-storey office tower, set back from northwest Yonge-Eglinton corner

by a landscaped pedestrian plaza;

22-storey office tower, midway between Yonge and Duplex on Eglinton Ave.;

22-storey apartment building, fronting on Orchard View Blvd.;

18-storey apartment building, fronting on Duplex Ave.;

2-level entertainment and shopping complex, facing on Yonge and Eglinton,

to include pedestrian plaza to subway, dual movie theatre, art gallery,

exhibition area, restaurants and lounges, showrooms, food market,

boutiques and shops;

12,000 sq. ft. central court with movable transparent dome for year-round

use by buildings’ occupants and public;

2-level underground parking garage to provide 420,000 sq. ft. parking space.

Timing: Construction to start in March 1968, contingent on zoning change recommended

by Toronto Planning Board.  Owners estimate it will take 50 months to construct

all buildings.

Zoning: Zoning changes recommended by Toronto Planning Board for the Duplex-Orchard

View part of this block will allow apartment structures on sites now occupied

by a score of houses which have been purchased by North Toronto Development

Company for the project.

Features: Unified architectural concept to merge office towers, apartment buildings,

entertainment and shopping concourse, domed court, landscaped walkways and

subway access into a single block-large complex.

Spacing of buildings and apartment building design to provide unrestricted

view and natural light for most occupants and without overshadowing properties

in adjacent blocks.

Main concourse to have climate-controlled complex of entertainment, service

and shopping facilities around landscaped malls and courts – all closely

linked to office tower and apartment building lobbies and subway station.

Main entrance to concourse will be from Yonge-Eglinton pedestrian plaza;

other access from Yonge and from Upper Plaza through a sunken court.

Main concourse to provide for dual movie auditorium, restaurant, cocktail

lounge, nightclub entertainment, teenagers’ discotheque, showrooms, health

club, self-service cafeteria, food market, gift and novelty kiosks, service

and specialty stores, bank and trust company branches.

….3

Yonge-Eglinton Centre, 1967 – 3 -

Upper Plaza to have two areas:  (1) a landscaped outdoor area screened from

public view to provide swimming, outdoor recreation and playground facilities

for apartment occupants;  (2) a series of interconnected outdoor and indoor

courts north of main office tower where pavilion structures will provide for

snack bars, boutiques, exhibition space and sidewalk cafe.

Main office tower at Upper Plaza level will house exhibition and meeting

rooms, art gallery, travel bureau, restaurant and cocktail lounge.

Sunken central court providing entertainment facilities for both complex

occupants and public will have a transparent domed roof to cover its

12,000 sq. ft. area in winter months.

Traffic

Planned: To relieve pressure on Yonge-Eglinton intersection.  All cars will enter

two-level underground parking garage from an Orchard View ramp, just east

of Duplex, and exit from another Orchard View ramp, just west of Yonge.  An

enclosed truck court for all commercial vehicles serving complex will be

near southwest corner of site with access and exit on Duplex Ave. about 150 ft.

north of Eglinton.  Apartment entrances will be about midway in Orchard View

and Duplex blocks.  Malls, courts, plazas and pedestrian tunnels will connect

all buildings on site and the subway entrances.

Grade drop: Of about 15 feet from Orchard View to Eglinton is utilized in design to provide

street-level entrance to Upper Plaza from Orchard View, to the office towers

from Eglinton and Yonge, to apartments from Duplex and Orchard View.

Central sunken court will link all buildings.

Parking: 420,000 sq. ft. in two sub-grade levels that cover entire site will accommodate

some 1,370 cars on 24-hour basis.  Truck court is additional and for commercial

vehicles only.  With 800 spaces reserved for apartment occupants, other 570 spaces

will serve office tower occupants and shoppers during day, apartment visitors and

entertainment goers at night.  24-hour parking control will utilize space for

maximum efficiency.

Subway access to offices and apartments in Yonge-Eglinton Centre will sub-

stantially relieve traffic and be even larger factor when Yonge Subway extension

is completed.  Subway access to entertainment and shopping facilities in the

Centre will materially reduce parking and stopping problems at Yonge-Eglinton

intersection.

Only auto service business in this block, 41,000 sq. ft. property, has been

purchased for inclusion in site thus relieving a source of traffic volume.

….4

Yonge-Eglinton Centre, 1967 – 4 -

Land Use: Site is 210,000 sq. ft.  Of this, office towers will occupy 33,600 sq. ft.,

apartment buildings 30,000 sq. ft., leaving 70 per cent of site for public

areas, pavilions and landscaping.

Tax Revenue: The 32 properties on the Yonge-Eglinton site have been providing (at the

1967 tax rate) an estimated $120,000 a year in property and business taxes.

It is estimated that the Yonge-Eglinton Centre will provide more than

$2.5 million a year in property and business taxes  (at the 1967 mill rate).

height

Dimensions: Main Office Tower 140  x  140  ft. 30 storeys 588,000 sq. ft. 415 ft.

Second Office Tower 140  x  100 ft. 22 storeys 308,000 sq. ft. 305 ft.

Orchard View Apt. 268  x    58 ft. 22 storeys 330,000 sq. ft. 215 ft.

Duplex Ave. Apt. 268  x    58 ft. 18 storeys 270,000 sq. ft. 175 ft.

Concourse area for tenancy 109,000 sq. ft.

Property: Site includes Parkwood Motors Yonge St. property (41,000 sq. ft.); nine house

and small apartment properties on Orchard View (50,000 sq. ft.); twelve house

properties on Duplex (27,000 sq. ft.); five store properties on Eglinton (15,000 sq. ft.);

Dominion Stores Yonge St. property and Starrett Ave. parking lot (42,000 sq. ft.);

Woolworth-Tamblyn site at Yonge-Eglinton corner (12,000 sq. ft.); dead-end

Starrett Ave. now serving parking lot and rear of Yonge St. buildings on site

(23,000 sq. ft.).

Commercial: Yonge-Eglinton Centre will replace some 83,000 sq. ft. of commercial property

(Parkwood Motors, Dominion Stores, Woolworth-Tamblyn, five Eglinton Ave.

stores) with 121,000 sq. ft. gross area commercial space in new complex.  Much

of new space will be devoted to entertainment facilities (e.g. 10,000 sq. ft. dual

movie theatre, 8,500 sq. ft. restaurant, cocktail bar area, 7,000 sq. ft. exhibition

and art gallery facilities).  Supermarket property of 15,000 sq. ft. purchased from

Dominion Stores will be replaced by the same size food market space in new complex.

Most of the remaining commercial space in Yonge-Eglinton Centre will be for stores

and service shops designed to serve business and apartment tenants.  Occupants of

800 apartment suites and 811,000 sq. ft. (net) of office space in Yonge-Eglinton Centre

will substantially add to business of existing stores and shops in Yonge-Eglinton area.

Redevelopment of site will enhance property values in area.

Levels: Concourse level will run from 20 feet below Yonge at Orchard View to 5 feet above

Yonge at Eglinton.  The lower parking level will run from 35 feet below Yonge at

Orchard View to 20 feet below Yonge at Eglinton.  Upper Plaza will be from 5 to

20 feet above Yonge Street.

Eglinton Plan: Eglinton Planning District Appraisal, prepared by City of Toronto Planning Board

in November 1964, was circulated to all owners and tenants in district and discussed

at six public meetings attended by aggregate eight per cent of population in January

and February 1965.  Submissions at these meetings and by interested groups were

considered by Planning Board prior to their Supplementary Report of July 1965.

….5/

Yonge-Eglinton Centre, 1967 – 5 -

Eglinton Appraisal is a blueprint for district from Bayview west to City limits;

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, north to Briar Hill and Blythwood.  Northwest quadrant

(Sub Area 4) is area from Yonge west to Latimer;  Eglinton north to Briar Hill.

Eglinton

District: Board noted in Supplementary Report of July 1965 that:  “Excellent location

advantages created by the subway and traffic arteries were largely responsible

for the high density, large scale developments that have taken place since 1954….

apartment construction averaged 370 units a year….office expansion has been

equally dramatic….since 1957 almost 1.3 million square feet of new office space

has been completed.”

Board recommended:  “New concentrations of apartments and offices should be

located close to subway stations and be self-sufficient in terms of adequate

parking, recreation and convenience shopping.  Eglinton will continue to be one

of the best locations in Metropolitan Toronto for professional and business

consultants as well as some head offices….Room for expansion will be made

available on the west side of Yonge south of Eglinton and on Eglinton west to

the Park, to take advantage of prestige locations and subway transportation….

With careful planning and controlled development, Eglinton will contain the

third largest office centre in Metropolitan Toronto and a superior example of

modern apartment living for perhaps 23,000 people.”

“Two new sectors will be opened up for development….both immediately adjacent

to subway stations….in the northwest quadrant between Yonge and Eglinton Park,

south of Roselawn to Eglinton; the second between Eglinton and Davisville subway

stations.  Both of the new areas are intended for high density apartments and offices

complemented by recreation centres and shopping.”

Sub Area 4: “High density developments should be concentrated around the subway station.

Offices should be encouraged on the Eglinton-Yonge corner and extending along

the north side of Eglinton to the park; while large apartments should take up the

rest of the area between Yonge and Eglinton Park, as far north as Roselawn.  A

few local shops, a park and active recreation facilities and a new district library

should be incorporated into this new neighbourhood.  No other changes are

desirable.”

The Board recommended: “Apartments be permitted in selected locations close to

the two subway stations.  These apartment areas should be of high standard of

development and should include parks and recreation facilities to serve their

residents.  Office development shall be located in a well-defined office

concentration around the subway.”

“Changes will be restricted to the area between Yonge Street and Eglinton Park,

south of Roselawn.  Offices will be focused on the Eglinton-Yonge intersection

and along Eglinton Avenue, while the interior will contain apartments.”

Newspaper Articles – Yonge-Eglinton, 1967

“$53 million project at Yonge-Eglinton,”  The Toronto Star, August 10, 1967.

“A $53 million apartment, office, shopping and entertainment complex planned for the northwest corner of Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave., with direct access to the Yonge St. subway, was unveiled yesterday by Mayor William Dennison.

The 4.85-acre project, to be built by North Toronto Development Co. and known as the Yonge-Eglinton Centre, is described as the largest residential-commercial complex of its kind in Canada.

Application for approval of the site . . . went before city planning board yesterday.

…………………..

North Toronto Development Co. has purchased 89 per cent of the proposed site over the last two years, including nine houses and small apartments on Orchard View, 12 houses on Duplex, and Parkwood Motors used car showroom on Yonge St.

The remaining 11 per cent lies in dead-end Starrett Ave., a service road off Eglinton owned by the city.

The only outstanding property is a 15,000-square-foot office building owned by Montreal Trust Co. at Duplex and Eglinton which the developers will build around.”

Jointly doing the project:  North Toronto Investments Ltd. And Yoeman Investments Ltd. under the business name of North Toronto Development Co.

Principal developers:  Sandy Hofstadler and Simon Minz.

“Yonge-Eglinton – Planners approve 4-tower complex”,  The Toronto Star,  November 2, 1967.

“…approved by the Toronto Planning Board last night….”